Seahawks to face fifth-toughest schedule in 2016

Last season, the Seattle Seahawks had a rough road to qualify for the playoffs, in large part to a 0-2 start and a schedule that featured early season games against the Green Bay Packers, Cincinnati Bengals and Carolina Panthers, three of the last four teams to lose a game at the start of the season.

With the first game still seven months away, the 2016 team doesn’t look to have any smoother road in an effort to qualify for a fifth consecutive trip to the post-season. According to statisticians at CBSsports.com, the Seahawks will face the fifth toughest schedule of the entire NFL next season.

Based on the regular season records of this past season, next year’s Seahawks opponents went 139-117, a winning percentage of .543. Additionally, four of the Seahawks’ 2016 opponents – the Panthers, Packers, Arizona Cardinals and New England Patriots – qualified for the NFL playoffs, with all but the Packers advancing to the conference championship games (and, of course, the Panthers advanced to the Super Bowl).

It’s not just the Seahawks in the NFC West who face tough tests, as the rest of the division gets the opportunity to play through the AFC North and NFC South divisions. The San Francisco 49ers will face the toughest schedule (.555), the Los Angeles Rams the third-toughest (.551) and the defending divisional champions Cardinals the seventh-toughest (.531).

Who gest the easiest schedule? That would be Aaron Rodgers and the Packers, as every NFC North team gets the benefit of playing through the NFC East and AFC South.

While the dates and times of the Seahawks’ 2016 games have not yet been determined, the home and away matchups have been set. The Seahawks will host games with the Atlanta Falcons, Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, Philadelphia Eagles, Panthers, Cardinals, 49ers and Rams, while the road schedule includes the New Orleans Saints, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, New York Jets, Patriots, Packers, Cardinals, 49ers and Rams.

Ray Hartjen

A Public Relations pro by day, by night @RayHartjen follows parallel - yet somehow still often conflicting - paths searching for hair metal guitar legend status, a career as a journeyman 4th line center in the NHL, and the treasured laminates to be a hanger-on in the circus that is Formula 1.